Your Plot Borders a Road in Kenya: How the Surveyor Checks the Road Reserve

               Road frontage guide
              Road reserves
              Oct 8, 2026
            

Suppose you own a plot beside a paved road.

An old wire fence stands several metres from the tarmac. There is an open strip between the fence and the road. You want to replace the fence with a masonry wall and place a small building near the front of the plot.

One person tells you that the fence was placed inside the property and that you can move it closer to the road. Another says the open strip forms part of the road reserve.

You want to know where your land ends before the design and construction work begins.

This is not answered by measuring from the edge of the tarmac. The survey team first identifies the recorded parcel and road-reserve boundaries, then measures how the fence, road and proposed development relate to those boundaries.

What is the road-reserve boundary?

A road reserve is the surveyed corridor set aside for the road. Its boundary is the line between that corridor and the adjoining land.

The surfaced part of the road does not, by itself, show where the reserve ends. The tarmac may occupy only part of the space between the reserve boundaries. A drain, path, hedge or fence near the road is also a physical feature, not automatic proof of the parcel boundary.

The Survey Regulations describe a road-reserve boundary as a line parallel to the road centre line at a specified distance from it.

The centre line is the reference line running along the road that is used in defining the reserve. The specified distance comes from the relevant survey or approved scheme. It should not be guessed from the visible width of the road.

For our example, the first question is therefore not how far the fence stands from the tarmac. It is which survey record defines the reserve, and how that recorded line fits the site.

What records does the survey team examine?

The parcel number and location provide the starting point. A copy of the title, deed plan, survey plan or earlier subdivision approval can help the team identify the correct records.

A cadastral map shows the arrangement of registered land parcels. It helps place the plot among the adjoining parcels and the road. A filed plan or earlier survey plan may provide more detailed survey information, including boundary points, lengths, directions and coordinates.

Coordinates are numbers that describe the position of a survey point within a particular reference system. The surveyor uses them together with the other records and measurements. A coordinate copied from a document is not useful unless the reference system and the survey point it describes are understood.

The road records matter as much as the plot records. The team may need the survey information for the road reserve, the adjoining parcels and the survey control from which the earlier work was connected.

The Survey Regulations require a licensed surveyor to obtain the available information about previous surveys of both the property and adjoining land before carrying out the survey. Under the Land Registration Act, a person may also obtain an official search, certified copies of documents, the cadastral map or a plan filed in the registry upon payment of the prescribed fee.

The records review allows the team to answer several questions before going to the site:

Is this the correct parcel and the correct section of road?
Was the plot created through an approved subdivision or another recorded survey?
Is the road reserve already surveyed?
Which boundary points, control points and dimensions are available for checking the position?
Do the register and filed plan indicate that the parcel boundaries are fixed?

Is the line on the parcel map exact?

The team needs to establish what kind of boundary information the records provide.

Unless the register notes that a parcel boundary has been fixed, the Land Registration Act treats the cadastral map and any filed plan as indicating the approximate boundary and approximate position of the parcel.

A fixed boundary has its precise position defined through the relevant survey and registration process. The approved plan and the note in the register record that status.

This distinction affects how the road frontage is investigated. A line drawn on a small-scale parcel map should not simply be enlarged and treated as a construction line. The surveyor considers the map alongside the underlying survey records, the boundary status, existing marks and measurements on the ground.

What happens during the site survey?

At the property, the team looks for the survey marks and control points identified from the records. Existing beacons must be checked before they are relied on.

The surveyor then takes measurements that connect the plot frontage to the verified survey information. Where the reserve was defined from the road centre line at a specified distance, the fieldwork must allow that relationship to be established from the relevant records.

The team also records the physical features needed to explain the result. For our example, these may include:

the existing fence and gate;
the edge and centre line of the road, where relevant to the recorded survey;
drains, paths and retaining walls;
buildings close to the frontage;
visible beacons and other survey marks; and
the proposed position of the new wall or building, if it has been provided for checking.

These features help the owner see how the surveyed line relates to what is visible. The Survey Regulations require relevant topographical features and developments to be recorded, and the resulting plan should place surveyed features in their correct plotted positions.

The calculations are also checked. Before computations are sent to the Director of Surveys for authentication, the Survey Regulations require an independent and complete check. Even where the assignment is an initial site investigation rather than a new survey submission, checked measurements are necessary for a reliable explanation of the frontage.

What does the survey plan show?

A survey plan brings the records and field measurements into one drawing.

The Survey Regulations require surveyed boundaries adjoining the property to be shown. Where a plot adjoins a surveyed road reserve, the boundary on the opposite side of the reserve is also shown when the plotting scale permits.

The plan may show coordinates for the relevant survey points and the lengths and bearings of boundaries. A bearing describes the direction of a line. Lengths and bearings allow the boundary geometry to be checked rather than judged by appearance alone.

The physical road and other topographical features can then be plotted in relation to the reserve boundary. If a road feature has not been surveyed to the same accuracy as the boundary work, the Survey Regulations require it to be marked as approximate on the plan.

For the owner, the useful result is a drawing or marked plan that makes the following lines easy to distinguish:

the parcel boundary along the road frontage;
the road-reserve boundary;
the existing fence or wall;
the visible road features; and
the proposed development line, where that has formed part of the assignment.

What if the fence is not on the recorded boundary?

The survey should state the measured relationship without moving a line to match the fence.

If the fence stands inside the parcel, the report can show the distance between it and the surveyed boundary. If it extends beyond the parcel boundary, the report can show that relationship as well. The next action depends on the boundary status, the supporting records and any approval needed for the proposed work.

Sometimes an existing beacon or another feature does not agree with the earlier survey information. The Survey Regulations require the surveyor to establish carefully that a material discrepancy exists, search for evidence at the recorded position and record nearby buildings or other development. Where the circumstances allow, the surveyor provides a full report to the Director of Surveys and requests instructions before taking further action.

This is why a frontage survey is not simply a matter of placing an instrument beside the road and marking a distance from the tarmac. The result has to fit the parcel records, the road survey and the available evidence on the ground.

The parcel boundary and the building line are different

Finding the parcel boundary does not by itself decide where a building may be placed.

A building line is a planning line drawn across a plot. Under the Physical and Land Use Planning Regulations, a building or permanent structure may not occupy the space between that line and the nearest road on which the plot fronts, apart from a wall of approved design enclosing the plot.

The road-reserve boundary answers where the road corridor ends and the parcel begins. The building line addresses how development is positioned within the plot. One line should not be substituted for the other.

For our example, the survey team can establish the parcel and road-reserve positions and provide the base information needed for the design. The proposed building or wall must then be checked against the applicable planning requirements and approvals.

The Physical and Land Use Planning Act requires development permission from the relevant county authority before development is carried out. An application includes the plans and particulars required to explain the proposal, prepared by the relevant qualified professionals. When considering a building proposal, the county government may examine the position of the building within the plot, the building line, access, parking and other planning matters. The application may also be circulated to roads and transport authorities for comment.

The survey therefore answers a necessary part of the design question, but it does not replace the planning decision.

Does the survey change the official map?

Not every boundary check changes the cadastral map.

A site investigation may confirm how an existing recorded boundary relates to the fence and road. The surveyor can report that result without creating a new parcel or altering the registered arrangement.

If the work involves a new survey or another transaction that requires approval, the process is different. The Survey Regulations require the surveyor to confirm that the necessary statutory approval has been obtained before submitting the survey and that the survey conforms to that approval.

The Land Registration Act also provides that a further survey can be used to amend the cadastral map only after approval by the office or authority responsible for the survey of land.

The owner should therefore ask at the start whether the assignment is:

a boundary and road-reserve investigation for design purposes;
setting out an approved wall, gate or building position;
a formal survey for an approved transaction; or
work intended to support an amendment to the cadastral record.

Each has different records, approvals and deliverables.

What should you receive after the work?

The deliverables should match the question you asked the surveyor to answer.

For a road-frontage investigation, ask for a written explanation and a plan or sketch showing the relevant parcel boundary, road-reserve boundary and visible features. The document should state which records were used, which survey marks were found and what was measured on site.

It should also identify any limitation that affects the conclusion. For example, the report may say that a road feature is approximate, that a boundary remains subject to a formal process or that a discrepancy has been referred for instructions.

If the work includes setting out a proposed wall or building, the marked position should be related clearly to the surveyed boundary and the approved design. Keep copies of the plan, field report, approval references and any submission record provided as part of the assignment.

For our example, the owner should be able to see where the parcel ends, where the existing fence stands, how the road reserve relates to both, and whether the proposed construction position still requires a planning or road-related approval.

What should you send to Walterland?

Send the parcel number, location and a copy of the title. Include any cadastral map, deed plan, survey plan, subdivision approval or building drawings you already have.

Explain what you can see at the frontage. Mention the tarmac edge, drains, fence, gate, beacons and any recent road works. Photographs can help the team understand which features you are referring to before the records search begins.

State what you intend to do. A request to confirm a boundary for a future design is different from a request to set out an already approved wall or building.

Also mention any earlier survey, notice from a public authority or disagreement about the road frontage. That information helps the team identify the records, field measurements and approvals relevant to the assignment.

// Road-frontage investigation

What should you send to Walterland?

Send the parcel number, location and a copy of the title. Include any cadastral map, deed plan, survey plan, subdivision approval or building drawings you already have.

Send your parcel details → Cadastral surveys →

State what you intend to do. Land verification →

Legal references